Day 4 - Week 19 - 1 John 5:11 "And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son."

We've talked about the wonderful gift that God has given us and that it is ours to take hold of right now...but how does that gift come to us?  The second half of the testimony explains the way that God presents this gift to us...the gift is in His Son.  Coincidentally (or was it?), just when I had written this statement the song, "The Coloring Song" by Petra played on the digital station I had the TV set on.  The lyrics express the gift of life given by God through Jesus so well...especially the first two verses shown below:

Red is the color of the blood that flowed

Down the face of Someone Who loved us so

He's the perfect man, He's the Lord's own son,

He's the Lamb of God, He's the only one

That can give us life, that can make us grow,

That can make the love between us flow.

Blue is the color of a heart so cold

That will not bend when the story's told

Of the love of God for a sinful race

Of the blood that flowed down Jesus face

That can give us life, that can make us grow

That can keep our hearts from growing cold.

The gift of eternal life can only be obtained when you accept that it is given through the blood of Jesus, shed for us, to bridge the gap between God's holiness and our sinfulness.  When you accept Jesus as your Savior, your heart that is so blue and cold becomes vital and warm and full of the lifeblood that only the Holy Spirit can bring to us.  We become alive in a spiritual sense...in a reborn sense...not born of mortality, but born to immortality, becoming children of the Eternal God, our Father.

John 3:3-5 " In reply Jesus declared, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again. " "How can a man be born when he is old?" Nicodemus asked. "Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb to be born!" Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit."

Until we come to the saving knowledge and belief that Jesus came to reunite us with God our Father and accept the gift of eternal life through Jesus, and be reborn with the power of the Holy Spirit living within us, we cannot "enter" the kingdom of God.  The KJV uses the word "see" instead of enter...the Greek word is eida, and listen to some of the definitions:

to perceive with the eyes

to turn the eyes, the mind, the attention to anything

to have regard for one, cherish, pay attention to

to know, i.e. get knowledge of, understand, perceive

When you substitute those definitions into the passage, doesn't it give you a different perspective?  With these definitions, the verse doesn't carry with it so much the fact that we won't get entrance into the kingdom of God without spiritual rebirth (which we won't), but also that until we are reborn as true children of God, we can't even begin to understand, or have any regard for, the kingdom of God.  It has no value to us, we don't care about it, we don't look to it as our home and we don't hold it up as our longed-for goal.

I love this earthly life I have been given, but I also long for the day when I will truly be at home, my real home, with my very real Father.  I can see it. 

Day 3 - Week 19 - 1 John 5:11 "And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and that life is in His Son."

God has given us eternal life!

Has given....past tense...it is available to us now.  Eternal life is ours to take hold of now.  We don't have to wait until we leave this life to know that we have eternal life.  We can have that assurance now when we accept God's gift.

The gift has been presented...what do you do with the gift that is being held out for you?  Have you accepted this most wonderful gift?  If not, what is keeping you from doing so?  If you have, do you fully realize what you have been given?

According to Strong's Exhaustive Concordance:

Eternal life...aijwvnioß zwhv...ahee-o'-nee-os  dzo-ay'
Without end, never to cease, everlasting --- life real and genuine, a life active and vigorous, devoted to God, blessed, in the portion even in this world of those who put their trust in Christ, but after the resurrection to be consummated by new accessions (among them a more perfect body), and to last for ever.

This is what God is ready to give to all of us.  Eternal life that begins now and never ends.  I love the descriptive words Strong's uses...real, genuine, active, vigorous, devoted to God, blessed...who would turn down a life of that quality? 

There is life without God, and superficially it can seem like a good life.  But where is the center of that life?  The center of a godless life is self.  Some altruistic atheist might argue that statement, but I would counter that even the most giving non-believer does so to elevate self in some manner...whether it be in the regard of others, social status, or within their own ego.  Without a "god" motivation, the only reason to do good is to make yourself feel good.  And no matter how much good you do, deep down in the core of your being, you know you are not good.

When our lives become God-centered, we have a new life because God gives us eternal life --- a life that we know will have no end.  God shows us that our lives have eternal purpose and that everything we do now has a vitality to it that, apart from God, is not possible.  We are motivated to do good because we want to please our God who has given us this wonderful gift...His purposes are now our purposes.  We know that without Him guiding our lives, we have no goodness of our own; but we know that our lack of goodness has been replaced with His absolute and perfect goodness.  We are not futilely striving to do good independently, we are allowing God to do good through us. 

I hope some of this makes sense to someone else besides me!  As I write, I am amazed at what I am learning...this really is a new life we have been given.  Please don't miss this gift...a gift that starts now and continues throughout eternity!

Day 2 - Week 19 - 1 John 5:11 "And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and that life is in His Son."

Have you ever been asked to give your testimony?  People want to know how you came to a faith in Jesus Christ as your Savior, and it's an important thing to be able to share.  We each have our story how God reached out to us and we accepted His gift of salvation.  Some testimonies are very dramatic, some are not.  Some conversions happen quickly, some take a process of years.  But the important thing is, we have been saved through God's grace toward us.  And there is one common element:

God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son---this is THE testimony!

This is the good news that we are to share with all --- God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.

Isn't that simple?  Isn't that an easy sentence to remember and isn't this a great assurance given to us from God?

When someone asks you the difference in your life since you became a Christ follower, wouldn't it be easy to say..."Since I became a Christian, I have complete confidence of my eternal life.  God has given me eternal life, and this life is in His Son, Jesus Christ my Savior!"

So - how does that knowledge affect your life now?   In every way!  Everything we think, do, say should be affected by our knowledge that our thoughts, actions and words have eternal significance...that we can have an impact for eternity.  Doesn't that make you feel valuable?  It should - God intends it to.  When we realize that we have been given the absolute assurance of eternal life, we should get excited about joining with God in His work here on earth now.  We no longer have to worry about our own destination --- we have assurance of that.  Now we are free to change our focus from ourselves and become concerned about others.

Satan wants us to doubt...he wants us to question whether we truly are headed to eternity with God.  God doesn't want that for us. He wants us to know and He wants us to be freed by that knowledge.

And this is the testimony:  God has given us eternal life, and that life is in His Son! 

Hallelujah!!

Day 1 - Week 19 - Time to add another!

Ready to add another verse from a new group?  Get ready to do just that!  But first....you know what you've got to do!  We won't review The Four Corners of the Bible, so if you don't have those four down, go back and get them secured!  We'll start out with Romans Road to Salvation and go through The Gift of Prayer before we introduce our new verse that will be the first of ten (yes, I said ten!) verses on The Gift of God's Assurance.  

Romans Road to Salvation
Romans 3:23  For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
Romans 6:23  For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 5:8    But God proves His own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Romans 10:9  If you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord" and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.  
Romans 12:1  Therefore, dear brothers, by the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your spiritual worship.

The Gift of Scripture
2 Timothy 3:16        All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting and for training in righteousness.
Joshua 1:8               This book of instruction must not depart from your mouth; you are to recite it day and night so that you may carefully observe everything written in it. For then you will prosper and succeed in whatever you do.
Psalm 119:11           I have treasured your word in my heart so that I may not sin against You.
Deuteronomy 6:4-6  Listen O Israel: The Lord your God, the Lord is One.  Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength.  These words I am giving to you today are to be in your heart.
Deuteronomy 6:7     Repeat them to your children.  Talk about them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.
Hebrews 4:12          For the Word of God is living and effective and sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating as far as to divide soul, spirit, joints and marrow.  It is a judge of the ideas and thoughts of the heart.

The Gift of Prayer
Hebrews 4:16 Therefore let us approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us at the proper time.
1 John 5:14     Now this is the confidence we have before Him: whenever we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.
1 John 5:15     And if we know that He hears whatever we ask, we know that we have what we have asked Him for.

And now....

The Gift of God's Assurance
1 John 5:11  And this is the testimony:  God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.

Do you realize that John uses the phrase "eternal life" 23 times in his writing of the Gospel of John and his three letters? I think he wants us to be assured about our future, don't you?!

Here's our closing quote for tonight from Samuel Rutherford --- yes, that's his picture and not mine with a fancy new hat and hairdo!  Samuel Rutherford was a Scottish Presbyterian minister who lived in the early 15th century.  Here is his quote regarding God's assurance to us:

Our hope is not hung upon such an untwisted thread as, 'I imagine so,' or 'it is likely,' but the cable, the strong tow of our fastened anchor, is the oath and promise of Him who is eternal verity.  Our salvation is fastened with God's own hand, and with Christ's own strength, to the strong stake of God's unchangeable nature.

When I was young, some churches had a habit of closing the sermon with the question, "Do you know where you'd go if you died tonight?"  If you have asked Jesus to be your Savior and your Lord, you know exactly where you'll be when you wake up from death's short nap...you'll be in eternity with God Almighty! 

That's blessed assurance!

 

Day 7 - Week 18 - 1 John 5:15 "And if we know that He hears whatever we ask, we know that we have what we have asked Him for."

On the last night of our contemplation of this verse of assurance, I want to share with you Robert J. Morgan's thoughts on what I hope we've gotten into our hearts this week....that when we frame our requests in God's will, He provides the best for us, even through those times when we've been told "no" to our original request.

Here are the examples that Robert J. Morgan gives for us to reflect upon:

• Abraham earnestly prayed that Ishmael would become the son of promise and the heir of his legacy (Genesis 17:19) but God said no.  He had something better, a line of descent through the boy Isaac.
• Moses earnestly prayed to cross the river Jordan with the children of Israel (Deuteronomy 3:23-25), but God said no.  He had a younger leader named Joshua and a better promised land for the aged Moses.
• David prayed earnestly for the joy of building a temple to the Lord (1 Kings 8:17-19), but God said no.  He had something better---for David to plan the project and for his son Solomon to do the work.
• Jonah prayed earnestly that he would die (Jonah 4:8), but God said no.  He had something better---for Jonah to learn the lessons of compassion and write it down in a book that would thrill the ages.
• The healed demonic in Mark 5 prayed that he could travel around as a disciple of Jesus of Nazareth (Mark 5:18-20), but the Lord said no.  He had something better---that he go home to his friends and tell them what great things the Lord had done for him and had shown him mercy.
• The apostle Paul prayed earnestly to be healed from his disease, which he described as a thorn in the flesh (2 Corinthians 12:7-9).  But God said no.  He had something better---for Paul to discover the all-sufficiency of His grace.
• Jesus prayed earnestly that the cup of suffering would pass from Him (Matthew 26:38-44), but God said no.  He had something better---that a fountain would be opened for all the world for the forgiveness of sin.

We never lose when we place ourselves in submission to God's will for us...just as Paul describes God's will in Romans...it is always "good, pleasing and perfect."  Is there any other source where we can place our trust that is 100% certain to bring about the very best for us?  Only our Holy Father who loves us so dearly can provide that kind of assurance.

I'll end the week restating a thought from last week...
   ....we need to get past our hesitancy to add "thy will be done" and instead embrace that thought as the best thought for our future.  God has good plans for His children.

Amen.

Day 6 - Week 18 - 1 John 5:15 "And if we know that He hears whatever we ask, we know that we have what we have asked Him for."

We have so many unanswered questions about prayer and about God's will.  We know that God' will supersedes our requests if there is a conflict between the two, and we can accept that...most of the time. 

But what about those times when things happen that we just don't see God's hand in?  Or when we know that godly people have prayed for results very different than what they are experiencing?  How do we keep on trusting when we go through those kind of very difficult times? 

Robert and I made a quick trip to Albuquerque this weekend just to get away.  This morning we took a walk along the Rio Grande in an area the city has established for walkers and bicycle riders.  We determined we were going to get to a set mark and took off.  It was a pretty area and we started off enthused.  But after we'd walked about 1/2 way to our predetermined goal our feet started to tire and it was h-o-t!  It seemed a little less important to me to make the goal---the walk wasn't that much fun anymore---conditions weren't that great.  It wasn't really even that pretty anymore!  But just about that time, our goal came into sight.  It wasn't that far off---and seeing the goal made all the difference.   It was just as hot, and my feet still hurt, but all of a sudden I had renewed energy---every step took me closer to the goal and the negative conditions were not as obvious to me.

I think, in my simplistic mind, that is what God is asking of us in the hard times...in the times when we just don't understand, and everything around us just doesn't seem all that pretty any more.  To see through our reborn eyes our goal...our goal of getting through this life where we will have troubles, (John 16:33, " In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world") and with every step we take, getting closer to our real life.  Our life where we will pass out of this fallen state in a world separated from God's perfection and live in perfect harmony with Him forever.

1 Corinthians 2:9, "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him"